Magical Commune: The Beginning
by Heart of a Slytherin
Summary: AU: Harry didn't want this, he never wanted this. To be Imprinted meant holding someone's soul in your hands, able to raise it or crush it at will. To have such a proud man willing to be anything Harry could ever want was frightening, and unnatural. Paul just wanted to love his Mate, to prove that Harry could accept his love, even though his Imprint didn't believe him. Slash.


Magical Commune

By: Heart of a Slytherin

Warnings: Slash, Human/Magical Creature, Gay Romance, Biting, Steamy Sex, Oral, Possessive Behavior, Vampires, Blood

Sitting around a roaring campfire with an ex-soldier of a Vampire was not what Harry had expected when he had first heard about the 'American Magical Commune' that happened every two years in the deep woods of Forks, Washington. It was always held at night, when less non-magically aware mortals would be snooping about.

It was a beautiful sight to see magical creatures and magical humans alike standing side by side in groups, laughing and generally having a good time.

Everything in America was so different from its European counterparts. Dark creatures flourished without having to report to a Ministry or a government body, and they lived with and around Light creatures and humans alike. The general rule of thumb was 'To Live and Let Live'.

It was a refreshing way of life, one Harry knew he would miss once he went port-keyed back to England in two months. Having immersed himself in the various magical cultures of the US for almost three years, he felt like a changed man. His views had changed along with his prejudices against dark creatures.

Hopefully, when he went back home, he would be able to help the Minister of Magic, Marne Cornflower to really see that the restraints against magical creatures were forcing them to act out against Wizard-kind in desperation. He could only hope that one day things would be as beautiful there as it was here in the beautiful and free Americas.

Slowly sipping a Firewhiskey, Harry stared into the bonfire, the leaping flames reflecting off of his lenses. He had hardly changed in the six years since the Final Battle; he wore the same type of glasses, his short hair continued to stick out in odd directions, and he still had the bad tendency to slump when he was sitting. The only proof of the passing of years was the way his body had filled out slightly, firmly leaving behind the awkwardness of youth and embracing the wholeness of adulthood.

He had been here only two hours, but already he was relaxed and calm as he sat next to a Hag and a Vampire without having to worry about being attacked.

Hearing the noise level pick up, he glanced to his right to find seven or so Native Americans entering the clearing, large barrels of what could only be beer on their shoulders. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at the strength the strangers demonstrated.

He watched as they dropped the barrels with thuds, and began to separate, some going in pairs to certain groups, others mingling alone.

"They are shape-shifters from the La Push Reserve." A low, gruff voice told him. Turning in surprise to the Vampire beside him, he blinked to find the blonde man watching him with eerie, bright golden eyes. "Shape shifters? That would explain their strength and builds. I'm assuming they are wolves?" Harry asked, turning back to look at one of the wolves that had caught his eye.

"Of course," the Vampire snorted, before turning his back to the Wizard. Nonplussed by the rude tone of voice, Harry stood and walked slowly toward the only female Indian in attendance. She was pretty, with short cropped black hair and smoldering black eyes. The only thing that marred her looks was the scowl on her face as she stood off by herself, watching everyone instead of joining them.

Picking two fresh Butterbeers off a nearby table, Harry approached her slowly. Stopping beside her, he wordlessly offered her a drink. A long moment passed before she accepted it, a long, strong hand pulling it out of his grasp. "Come to check out the monsters?" She sneered, her grip tightening on the bottle but not drinking from it.

He gave her a small smile, "The only monster I see here is your attitude. You should lighten up. Everyone is having a good time but you. Oh, and the Vampire over by the fire but he's an ex-soldier so he doesn't really count." He joked, his smile only getting bigger as her eyes widened in surprise.

No stranger had called her out on her attitude in years. Her pack was used to her mood swings and rarely mentioned it.

"Leah Clearwater, Shape Shifter from La Push." She said, a little less stiffly than before. He took her offered hand with his own and shook it, noting that her hands were rough and callused like his, "Harry Potter, Wizard from Great Britain. I'm just passing through but I heard of this little get together and decided to check it out. Does your pack come to every Commune?"

Leah finally drank from her bottle, her lips curving into a smile at the taste. "We were first invited about six years ago, but we have only attended the last two. Many of my pack have been finding their mates and starting families. They are very busy."

Harry looked at her for a long moment and though the young woman's voice was steady, he could see a quiet grief in her eyes that was achingly familiar, "Are you the only unmated pack member? If you are, I know from experience that it's hard. Out of all my friends, I'm the only one who hasn't settled down to raise little Witches or Wizards. I'm happy for them... but I wish I had it for myself."

"There are only two of us who aren't, Paul and I." She looked around for a minute, then finding what she was looking for, pointed to a large man with a beer mug in one hand.

"That's him. He shifted before I did, but because of our unmated status, we are a bit closer than we were before. Sometimes..." Leah's voice trailed off before she cleared her throat and continued, "Sometimes he says that we are unmated because we are being punished."

Harry felt his heart clench in sympathy and he leaned closer to her, bumping her shoulder with his. "I can't imagine anyone doing something so harsh that they are forced to live a lonely life." She said nothing, but when she shoulder bumped him back, he knew that it was her way of saying 'thanks'.

Long, silent minutes passed in companionable silence before Leah suddenly lurched forward, barely managing to upright herself.

"Le-"

"Hush!" She growled, her body tense and on alert, her eyes swiftly moving from group to group until they rested on the man she had identified earlier as Paul. Harry turned to watch the man too, alarmed. His wrist twitched and his wand slid into his hand when he saw that Paul was standing stock still, watching them with intense eyes. Leah took slow steps away from Harry until there were a few feet between the two of them, never taking her eyes off her pack mate.

As Harry watched the other pack members quietly but swiftly converged on Paul and surrounded him, being careful to not block his view of his Imprint. Harry and Paul stared each other down, both men tense but for completely different reasons.

"Don't look towards me Harry, just toward Paul or to the ground. Alright?" Leah whispered to him, being careful to pitch her voice low. Harry gave a tiny nod, as a horrible feeling started to churn in the base of his gut that was slowly growing stronger. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew, he _knew_ that it was something bad.

"Do you know how to get to the Reserve from here?" Leah asked, her voice a little more frantic than before. Harry's fist clenched on his wand and he saw the Shifter group tense as Paul took a step forward. "Yes. Where around there should I meet you?" He asked, his voice even lower than hers.

"The La Push beach, by the cliffs. Go as quickly as you can. We will meet you in half an hour."

"But Leah-" Harry was cut off as Paul began striding towards them, shaking off the restraining hands that would have kept him in place. By now, the other members of the Commune had noticed something was wrong, and were watching with interested, but wary eyes.

"Go!" She cried, still refusing to look in his direction. Harry immediately wrapped his magic around himself, and with a small pop disappeared from the area, leaving behind a frustrated and angry Paul and his relieved pack mates.

Finally reaching Leah, Paul grabbed her arms with a bruising grip, growling loud and deep in his throat, loud enough for everyone around them to hear it, "Where did you send him?!" He roared, tightening his hands on her arms until she winced in pain and tilted her head back to bare her neck in submission. She had learned the hard way with Sam to not anger a newly Imprinted wolf, especially when it was about their Mate.

"I sent him to wait for us by the cliffs. You need to calm down or you will frighten him away. He was going into fight or flight mode when you locked eyes and started coming toward him. I've only just met him, but already I can tell he's not one to be cowed easily," she warned. "He will meet us in thirty minutes, so we need to get moving if we are to meet him in time."

Paul closed his eyes and took a deep breath, breathing in the faint traces of his Mate's scent, before visibly calming before their eyes. Taking his large hands off of her, he glanced at the bruises already forming on her skin but he didn't apologize. No one really expected him too. Their Alpha, Jacob, immediately ushered them into the woods where they stripped their clothes off and shifted into large wolves.

Suddenly raising his muzzle to the sky, Jacob began to howl with a joyous sound. After a moment, his pack joined him in a harmonious song that sang of their happiness that one of their own had Imprinted, before they snatched their clothes up in their jaws and charged toward the La Push Cliffs, where Paul would meet his mate for the first time.

-o-

Disapparating from the Magical Commune, Harry landed in the spotlessly clean bathroom of his hotel room with a thud before steadying himself against the bright blue tile that decorated the walls.

He took a deep breath, then another and another as he tried to calm his frantically beating heart. The sounds of his own breathing pressed in around him, echoing in his ears. Leaving the bathroom, Harry collapsed onto his bed. He didn't know what was going on, or why the Shifter Paul had been staring at him. All that he knew was that he was in trouble, deep trouble.

Closing his eyes and sinking further into the mattress, Harry cursed himself for a fool. He had hardly run into problems since he had arrived in America, but now it looked like his good luck had run out. Of course there was the incident with the Banshees that he had hardly escaped from with his life, but that was an exception.

Finally standing, Harry quickly pulled on a long sleeved jacket since it was the end of September and it was starting to get chilly in the middle of the night, before taking a quick check of himself in the full length mirror attached to the wall. He looked as he always did, though he was noticeably a bit pale and his eyes had a few more shadows in them than they usually did.

Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen. There really was nothing he could do. Harry had the distinct feeling that if he tried to run and didn't show up as he had promised, things would turn ugly very quickly. Leaning his forehead against the cool surface, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, wracking his brain for any information that he could remember about Shifters that would cause the reaction he had caused.

The largest Shifter, _Paul_ his mind whispered, had displayed paranoia when Leah had spoken to him, possessive behavior before the female had stepped away from him, and his eyes had burned with the heat of arousal when they had locked gazes. Though, to be honest with himself, Harry had felt the faintest stirrings of _something_ deep in his belly, but tried not to think of it too much at the time since his instincts that been screaming at him to _submit _while his mind had demanded he _runrunrun_ as fast as he could away from the man, away from the look in his eyes that demanded for Harry to come to him.

His chest tightened ominously as a sob worked its way out of his throat without a warning, and Harry felt tears burning behind his closed eyes as his mind whispered words to him, two terrible words that he never dreamed would ever apply to him.

_Imprint._

_Mate._

This couldn't be happening to him, he didn't want someone to be obsessed with him the rest of their lives, he didn't _want_ to have to break anyone's heart when he couldn't be what they wanted, what they craved. It couldn't happen even if Harry wanted it too. He was too damaged to accept love _in that way_. There was nothing for it, he would have to tell them.

* * *

**Authoress Note**: So, new story for you guys! I'm sure you are all 'why can't Harry love anyone' but that's a very serious question that will answered in later chapters. Foreshadowing is so much fun, isn't it?

Since I posted chapter two of Why So Sirius earlier, I decided that I might as well begin posting this crossover since I have quite a bit of it written. I will be posting a new chapter every Friday, and reviews are the fuel to my fire!

**Quick Question**: Would you prefer that I post M rated material on here for everyone to read, or should I just post it on my AO3 account so only the erotica readers who _want_ to read those parts will? I don't want to offend/freak someone out with some of the… sexy times.


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